4 suspects caught at gas station after heist of Ford Raptors from Woodhaven lot

WOODHAVEN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Ten Ford Raptor pick-up trucks were stolen after just being assembled in Woodhaven Wednesday morning.

The trucks, worth about $100,000 each, were waiting at a storage facility at the time of the theft.

"It looks like they drove through a cyclone fence to get access to Vreeland Road, and once they got on Vreeland Road, they made their way to the freeway," said Chief Scott Fraczek, Woodhaven police.

That’s how the suspects got out - with $1 million worth of pick-ups.

FOX 2: "How do these people get the keys?"

"Believe it or not, the keys are left in the vehicle," said Fraczek.

Police are still investigating how the thieves got into the storage lot.

"It’s an organized group that does something with these vehicles after the fact," the chief said.

Something that an organized auto task force will dive into.

Fraczek says with all these cars being stolen from one business, Ford, it costs the area residents more to insure their personal vehicles.  

"Based on the insurance rates of a region, because it’s based on the number of cars stolen in an area," he said. "It’s not good for the residents, no sir."

But some good news, Michigan State Police report that one car was found just off the I-75 because it ran out of gas.

"The car ran out of gas and they bailed on it and left it," he said.

It seems Ford doesn’t put a lot of gas in these pickups. But later in the day in Harper Woods, four more stolen Raptors were recovered - and four individuals were taken in custody, from a gas station.

"Apparently the first fuel attempt was a little bit less than what they needed and they had to get some more gas," the chief said.

In a call to Ford, FOX 2 received the comment: "We’re cooperating with authorities."

FOX 2: "We’ve been here before. Shouldn’t Ford put up a a notch to prevent this kind of thing from happening?"

"I would think that they would put in a better effort to make sure they can't get these high-dollar vehicles can’t get out of their lot," he said.

Formal charges are pending.